Sheet feeder for a sheet processing machine



A. SCHWEBEL 3,411,769

Nov. 19, 1968 SHEET FEEDER FOR A SHEET PROCESSING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2, 1967 Fig.1

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SHEET FEEDER FOR A SHEET PROCESSING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,411,769 SHEET FEEDER FOR A SHEET PROCESSING MACHINE Adolf Schwebel, Offenbach am Main, Germany, assignol' to Mabeg Maschinenbau G.m.b.H. Nachf. Hense & Pleines G.m.b.H. & Co., Offenbach am Main, Germany, a firm of Germany Filed Feb. 2, 1967, Ser. No. 613,634 6 Claims. (Cl. 271-) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates more particularly to a sheet feeder of the general kind above referred to, in which the sheets are conveyed to the sheet processing machine and in which the control functions for effecting the feed of successive sheets to the conveyor and the alignment of the sheets are derived from a control shaft.

There are known sheet feeders in which the control of some of the functions is derived from the control shaft, while most of the means required for operation of the sheet feeder such as the means for separating successive sheets from the stack of sheets, the means for tilting the front registering edge guides, the means for facilitating sliding of sheets upon a transport roller of the conveyor, and the means for moving pressure rollers into and out of coacting engagement with the transport roller of the conveyor are placed at widely spaced locations in the installation.

As a result, the assembly of such installation is very expensive, specialized equipment is needed and also the employment of a large working force of specialized help. Moreover, the reliability of the installation is not satisfactory and the servicing costs thereof are high due to the many assemblies and components to be supervised.

It is a broad subject of the present invention to provide a novel andimproved sheet feeder of the general kind above referred to, which is simpler to manufacture, to assemble and to service than sheet feeders as heretofore known, and which is also less expensive than conventional sheet feeders.

The afore-pointed out objects, features and advantages of the invention and other objects, features and advantages which will be pointed out hereinafter are obtained by providing a common drive shaft from which the drive for the posterior or transport roller of the/conveyor and also the contol of all the required functions such as transferring sheets from the stack to the conveyor releasing the sheets, aligning the sheets, etc., are derived. As is evident, the use of a single control shaft which makes possible placement of all the control assemblies of the machine closely together, simplifies the construction of the machine and the maintenance thereof.

In the accompanying drawing, a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

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In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a sheet feeder assembly according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic fragmentary side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the righthand side of the sheet feeder according to FIG. 1, showing the components of the feeder in greater detail;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic fragmentary side view of FIG. 3, seen from the left side thereof; and

FIG. 5 is another diagrammatic fragmentary side view of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the figures more in detail, the exemplified sheet feeder comprises a shaft 3 which is mounted in walls 1 and 2 of the frame of the machine. Shaft 3 is a common shaft from which the drive of the conveyor and the actuation of the control means required for operation of the sheet feeder are derived, as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

Shaft 3 mounts a bevel gear 5 in mesh with a bevel gear 6 mounted on a shaft 7, which should be visualized as leading to a suitable drive motor (not shown).

The shaft mounts a conveyor roller 4 over which are guided conveyor bands 11 travelling above and parallel to a feed table 11a. While only one such band is shown, obviously several bands may be and usually are provided. The shaft 3 further seats keyed thereto cams 8 and 9, best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Cam 8 coacts with a cam follower 30 secured to an arm 31 extending from a sleeve 32, keyed to an auxiliary shaft 19. This shaft further has keyed thereon a sleeve 33 with an arm 34 which mounts a counter roller 10. A spring 21 is secured at one end of the machine frame and on the other end to an arm 35 also keyed to shaft 19 by means of a sleeve. The spring biases arm 35 and with it cam follower 30 toward cam 8. The pulling force of the spring may be regulated by a set screw 20 which coacts with a stationarily mounted lug 23.

The sheet feeder further comprises one or several stop members 14 which are pivotal between a position blocking the withdrawal of the topmost sheet from a stack of sheets 12 and a position clearing the path of the sheets for feeding the same one by one to the conveyor bands 11, as will be more fully described in connection with FIGS. 2 and 5.

FIG. 2 shows stops 14 in the stop position in which they protrude above the top level of stack 12 at the left hand edge thereof. Each stop is mounted on a two-armed lever 40. The levers are pivotal on or with a common shaft 13. One arm of each lever 40 mounts a cam follower 41 coacting with cam 9. In this connection, it should be mentioned that a common cam may be used for controlling all stops, or each stop may be individually controlled by a earn 9. A spring 22 secured at one end to the machine frame and at the other end to the second arm of each lever 40 biases the respective cam follower 41 into engagement with cam 9.

Shaft 3 further has secured thereto a gear 18. The gear may be visualized as supplying the drive for and the control of a sheet detector, a suction foot and other standard components of a sheet processing machine of the kind here involved. The function of gear 18 in connection with the drive and control of standard components of the machine does not constitute part of the invention and is hence not described and illustrated in detail.

The sheet feeder, as hereinbefore described, operates as follows:

Let it be assumed that shaft 3 is driven via shaft 7. Accordingly, roller 4, conveyor bands 11 and cams 8 and 9 are rotated. Cam follower 30 when and while riding on the cam surface of cam 8 holds counter roller 10 out of coaction with the conveyor roller 4. When the cam releases the cam follower, spring 21 will pull the counter roller into coaction with the conveyor roller. Similarily, cam 9 holds stops 14 in the blocking position when and while cam follower 41 is riding on the cylindrical surface of the cam. However, when the follower reaches the flattened cam portion of the cam, spring 22 will pull stops 14- into the release position of FIG. 5.

It is evident that the aforedescribed sequential and intermittent control functions must be correctly correlated, which can be easily effected by adjusting the angular positions of the cams 8 and 9 on shaft 3 accordingly.

The sheet feeder further comprises a manual control to effect checking, fine adjustment and similar functions. The manual control is shown on the left hand side of FIG. 1 as comprising a hand wheel 15 keyed to a sleeve 15a loosely fitted upon a journal 3a of shaft 3. The sleeve is at its end cut on a slant to form a dog 16 coacting with a pin 17 on journal 3a. The dog will engage the pin when the hand wheel is turned in the travel direction of the conveyor, but will slip when the wheel is turned in the opposite direction, thereby making possible the aforementioned adjustments.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet feeder for feeding successive sheets from a stack of sheets to a sheet processing machine, in combination:

(a) a band conveyor for conveying successive sheets fed thereupon from the stack of sheets;

(b) guide means for guiding the conveyor band, said guide means including a roller disposed at the posterior end of said conveyor as seen in the direction of travel thereof;

() control means for controlling the release of successive sheets for feeding to said conveyor and the transport of fed sheets by the conveyor; and

(d) a rotary drive and control shaft having secured thereon said conveyor roller for driving the same and actuating means for intermittently actuating said control means by the rotation of the shaft.

2. The sheet feeder according to claim 1 wherein said control means comprise pressure means for moving successive sheets into coaction with the conveyor for conveying sheets fed upon the conveyor; release means for releasing successive sheets for withdrawal thereof from the top of a stack of sheets; and activating means sequentially and intermittently activating said pressure means and said release means.

3. The sheet feeder according to claim 2 wherein said pressure means comprise a pivotally supported counter roller pivotal into and out of a position of coaction with said conveyor, and wherein said actuating means comprise a cam member fixedly seated on said drive shaft for rotation by the same, and a cam follower coacting with said cam member and coupled with said counter roller for pivoting the same intermittently into and out of said position of coaction.

4. The sheet feeder according to claim 3 and comprising spring means biasing said counter roller toward coaction with said conveyor, and adjustable means for varying the effective force of said spring means.

5. The sheet feeder according to claim 3 wherein said sheet release means comprise a pivotally mounted stop member pivotal into and out of a position blocking Withdrawal of the uppermost sheet on said stack of sheets, a second cam member fixedly seated on said drive shaft for rotation by the same, and a cam follower coacting with said second cam member and coupled with said stop member for pivoting the same intermittently into and out of said blocking position.

6. The sheet feeder according to claim 3 and comprising spring means biasing said cam follower into engagement with said said second cam member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,954,881 10/1960 Hopton 1982.4 3,263,992 8/1966 Schrempp 271-53 RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner, 

